University of Virginia

[Anonymous]

Don’t go to UVA if you want to support a winning football team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the west coast and honestly had someone told me they went to the University of Virginia I would have reacted the same way as if they'd gone to the University of Oregon or the University of Arizona.

Now that I have been here over a decade, I get it, it's super prestigious and incredibly hard to get into.

Please explain to me why it is so prestigious, and why if my kid gets in, they should automatically take it (cost not a factor). My spouse is pushing it hard. I would never say this out loud, but to me it feels like all the smartest kids at all the northern Virginia schools go to UVA, making it a place of sharp elbows. I've heard it's hard to even join clubs there because everything is so competitive. Tell me why it is a great school - are the professors great? Campus seems fine to me, but I have seen prettier. What makes it so much better than other state universities? I get the William and Mary thing because it's this small, public liberal arts school.

I don't want to start a huge argument. Please just educate me on what makes UVA so strong. Why do your kids who go there love it? What do they love about it that is unique to UVA?

You hit the nail on the head with the part in bold. It’s also why UVA is a really unhealthy place for undergrads.

Huh??? Stop with the BS.

[Anonymous]

The VA big 3: UVA, VT, JMU all have very insecure boosters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The VA big 3: UVA, VT, JMU all have very insecure boosters.

Wrong. Big 3 are:

1. GMU (40k students)
2. VT (40k students)
3. VCU (30k students)

UVA would be #4, rounding up to 30k students but technically 2k less than VCU. So no, JMU nor UVA make the cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVAers call it "prestigious" because it's a closed club for hyper-competitive kids who couldn't quite get into a real Ivy. There's a definite cutthroat atmosphere for meaningless club positions. Graduates have a chip on their shoulder and no real skills beyond networking with other equally insufferable alums. It's an average state school...great PR team though.

I have no connection to UVA and no dog in this fight. But this is just over the top nonsense. Just ignorant and obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

OP - good question. Virginia bred here but NY now. My DD is 3rd generation legacy student there now. UVA was pushed hard at my NOVA HS (but I skipped out and went north).
I think the prestige comes from the in-state applicant stats - it's a pretty sweet deal and then there's the competitive NOVA Fed workers with their competitive kids. There's also the Jefferson history and the faux-Palladian architecture he mimicked. And the school has a very loyal alumni base. It's a play hard / party hard school. Graduates have fond memories of their time there.

As an easterner, I admit to being myopic about the schools on the west coast just as you were unawares of the schools on the east coast. I chalk it up to lack of interest in what's going on in the other coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the west coast and honestly had someone told me they went to the University of Virginia I would have reacted the same way as if they'd gone to the University of Oregon or the University of Arizona.

Now that I have been here over a decade, I get it, it's super prestigious and incredibly hard to get into.

Please explain to me why it is so prestigious, and why if my kid gets in, they should automatically take it (cost not a factor). My spouse is pushing it hard. I would never say this out loud, but to me it feels like all the smartest kids at all the northern Virginia schools go to UVA, making it a place of sharp elbows. I've heard it's hard to even join clubs there because everything is so competitive. Tell me why it is a great school - are the professors great? Campus seems fine to me, but I have seen prettier. What makes it so much better than other state universities? I get the William and Mary thing because it's this small, public liberal arts school.

I don't want to start a huge argument. Please just educate me on what makes UVA so strong. Why do your kids who go there love it? What do they love about it that is unique to UVA?

Hey. Also from west coast (Marin; then undergrad in Eugene).

Might also want to consider UVA has a rep of being on the conservative side, if you catch my drift.

(Wink) I certainly DO catch your drift. Eww. I guess my daughter Sunrise & I will be looking elsewhere. What do you know about Hampshire College?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they fall in love with UVA and you can get in state tuition, awesome! If they find a different school that they love, that’s awesome too. There are so many out there.

This is about right - for any college. Find the best fit for one’s own DC - and any best fit for one child is unlikely to be the best fit for all children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The VA big 3: UVA, VT, JMU all have very insecure boosters.

Wrong. Big 3 are:

1. GMU (40k students)
2. VT (40k students)
3. VCU (30k students)

UVA would be #4, rounding up to 30k students but technically 2k less than VCU. So no, JMU nor UVA make the cut.

Big 3 is prestige and popularity so UVA, VT, JMU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVAers call it "prestigious" because it's a closed club for hyper-competitive kids who couldn't quite get into a real Ivy. There's a definite cutthroat atmosphere for meaningless club positions. Graduates have a chip on their shoulder and no real skills beyond networking with other equally insufferable alums. It's an average state school...great PR team though.

The thing is that many kids do get into Ivies, but they may be UMC and not get significant or any aid. The cost of attendance there vs. UVA becomes a 200k difference for in state VA students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to UVA if you want to support a winning football team.

The dominance of UVA “football culture” was a huge turn-off, honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The VA big 3: UVA, VT, JMU all have very insecure boosters.

Wrong. Big 3 are:

1. GMU (40k students)
2. VT (40k students)
3. VCU (30k students)

UVA would be #4, rounding up to 30k students but technically 2k less than VCU. So no, JMU nor UVA make the cut.

Big 3 is prestige and popularity so UVA, VT, JMU

JMU is a fine school, but it makes me feel bad for you when I see this one poster trying to force the DCUM DC prep school “Big 3” concept (dumb in its own right) on VA universities (seriously not a thing) and tries to convince people that — even if it were a thing, which it isn’t — JMU would be seen as “prestigious”. I don’t like punching down, so will stop there.

[Anonymous]

OP, like attracts like. Frankly, I don't like "the like."

When a crowd needs to talk incessantly about how prestigious everyone needs to think they are, something's off balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The VA big 3: UVA, VT, JMU all have very insecure boosters.

Wrong. Big 3 are:

1. GMU (40k students)
2. VT (40k students)
3. VCU (30k students)

UVA would be #4, rounding up to 30k students but technically 2k less than VCU. So no, JMU nor UVA make the cut.

Big 3 is prestige and popularity so UVA, VT, JMU

Gotta hand it to the JMU boosters, they are a proud bunch. They do squeak into the top 150 in the rankings but there are at least 5 VA schools higher ranked - UVA, VT, W&M, VCU and GMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVAers call it "prestigious" because it's a closed club for hyper-competitive kids who couldn't quite get into a real Ivy. There's a definite cutthroat atmosphere for meaningless club positions. Graduates have a chip on their shoulder and no real skills beyond networking with other equally insufferable alums. It's an average state school...great PR team though.

I had plenty of classmates who chose UVA over the Ivys they got into. For some, it was financial, but for others they appreciated the school spirit, the larger community and variety of experiences available, and the opportunity to access top notch academics without the pressure cooker Ivy mentality

When I think of an option to an Ivy, UVA doesn't seem like the next logical step. Sorry. Very good state school though.